Hayley Jenkins started Yurara, her own mulberry tea company in order to improve health, claiming to benefit the fight against common ailments and even weight loss – and it’s all natural! You have my attention Hayley:-

  

What does “healthy” mean to you?

Healthy to me is a state of mind and body, it’s natural, positive and calm.

Have you always been healthy?

Growing up on a farm and playing plenty of sport, I was really lucky to have a healthy upbringing! Often our fruit and vegetables and meat were all seasonal, fresh from the farm, and so I knew what I was eating and where it came from.

Can you tell us a bit about your personal background?

I grew up on Kangaroo Island on a farm that connected to my grandparents and cousins, family was always an important part of our lives. I went to boarding school where I met a lot of life long friends, after school I studied IT/visual communication and worked for Optus where I was able to travel and work in Sydney, Melbourne and the Philippines. I now live in Melbourne working in a corporate environment as Human Resources Manager, we travel to Kangaroo Island every 6 or so weeks to tend and build on my long term dream.

What inspired you to start your own company?

I have a passion for Kangaroo Island, nature, open spaces and farming. The mulberry tree holds a very special connection to family for me and I would love to one day have enough to be fulltime and to have children of my own that are able to experience the same freedom, space, healthy living  and fresh air.

The use of mulberry leaf tea goes back centuries to the traditional Chinese medical system. Mulberry leaf tea’s health benefits are attributed to its naturally occurring compound, 1-deoxynojirimycin, or DNJ. DNJ is responsible for mulberry’s antidiabetic effects, which have been studied extensively. The tea also has powerful antioxidant properties and has been found to lower cholesterol and triglycerides and reduce inflammation, Mulberry tea also contains minerals and antioxidants, lowers blood glucose levels and has anti-Inflammatory effects.

Studies have been done by International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, PubMed Health, Diabetes Care, BioMed Research International Journal of Functional Foods and so on.

Wow, how beneficial! So now that Yurara is successfully up and running, what’s the next leg of this business venture?

We plan to plant and grow more mulberry trees on Kangaroo Island and possibly expand into other areas; maybe Mulberry Wine – although this year we may take any excess berries to Kangaroo Island Spirits for their award winning Mulberry Gin. We are looking at travelling to China next year to visit some other mulberry tree farms along the silk rout to learn their traditional methods.

Why is helping people with their health so important to you?

Diabetes Kills One Person Every Six Seconds – and afflicts 382 million people worldwide! I have family and friends that have suffered from the illness, according to the International Diabetes Federation – The number of people affected by the disease is expected to climb 55 percent to 592 million by 2035 as factors including poor diet, a more sedentary lifestyle, increases in obesity and life expectancy fuel an epidemic, it said. There were only 285 million sufferers worldwide in 2009. Natural remedies such as Mulberry Tea could make a huge difference to peoples health. I often imagine the difference it could make if people drank a cup of Mulberry tea before meals and cut out all soda/soft drinks even the “”Diet” drinks – I often think what is now was once imagined by someone else is mind and Mulberry Tea is well known in America and China but Australia doesn’t seem to know about it – Yet.

So in relation to natural healings, have you ever used hypnotherapy or know of anyone that has?

Yes my aunt and uncle were heavy smokers and wanted to loose weight. They successfully used hypnotherapy to stop smoking and never took it back up!

What are your personal views on alternative natural therapies to make beneficial changes in ones life?

A shared dream for the future:“The Doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with Drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition” Thomas Edison

 

What is a very valuable lesson you have learned on your own personal journey that you can share?

I think learning to let go and not to worry so much about things you have no control over or worrying about others judgments of you, I guess there’s nothing you can do about them, so why waste time stressing about things you cannot control; others peoples judgments do not define you as a person they – in fact, it defines those that feel the need to judge you. This helped me in deciding to launch Yurara after 3 years of thinking about it.

What are some of your greatest achievements?

This is a hard one! For me it was recently taking the chance to start my own small business. It’s a lot of work and travel, but it is something I have always wanted to do and finally was brave enough to give it a go.

I certainly understand, and congratulate you on this achievement. What are your ideal goals?

My goal is to keep learning and help this world as best I know how (through nature) – and I don’t think I will ever give up.

Wow Hayley, you should be so pleased with your efforts and Yurara is already doing so well… nothing like nature to heal the mind, body & soul (back to basics really!). Where there is passion there is success, and simply imagine where you’ll be in the next few years — your journey has only just started! Visit her WEBPAGE or FACEBOOK PAGE for more information.

 

Wishing you all an abundance of health, healing & love

Xx Chantelle Xx